Enviros: Kill Development (and Jobs) for a Beetle

NewsMax ^ | 5/12/04 | AP

[wagglebee]

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Environmentalists want emergency federal protection for the Casey's June beetle, one of the rarest insects in the world that lives on only 600 acres south of the city and is threatened by the desert building boom.

In a petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity listed two building projects already under way in beetle habitat and five more in development. They want emergency protection under the Endangered Species Act.

"Unless we take immediate action to preserve its habitat, Casey's June beetle is history," said David Wright, an ecologist who produced a report on the bug for the environmental groups.

Casey's June beetles are about three-fourths of an inch long, dusty brown or whitish with brown and whitish stripes. As larvae, they feed underground on plant roots, then emerge as adults between March and June.

Their habitat is limited to the plains bordering the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains. It is believed to have dwindled to just 600 acres in nine isolated fragments, mostly around the Smoke Tree Ranch area of Palm Springs.

It is unlikely that Endangered Species Act protection would stop development already under way, but it could make it more difficult and costly in the future.

[wagglebee]

Environmentalists want emergency federal protection for the Casey's June beetle

But don't want to spend money to defend our troops and nation.

IT'S A BUG!

[wagglebee]

This is an exerpt, I didn't copy the whole post my mistake.

[ikka]

If it only lives on 600 acres, and we pave that 600 acres, then we don't need to have the beetle around anymore then, do we?

[c-b 1]

If it only lives on 600 acres, and we pave that 600 acres, then we don't need to have the beetle around anymore then, do we?

No we don't!

[wagglebee]

Makes perfect sense to me, but then again it is California.

[Savage Beast]

Here's a good rule of thumb: If the "environmentalists" are for it, oppose it. If they are against it, support it.

[katz]

When what the enviromentalists want infringes on the livelihood of workers then there will be fireworks. Remember the sucker fish a year or so ago? The farmers wanted the water and they got it.

[Militiaman7]

Would someone please go out there with a can of RAID!

[cavtrooper21]

Emergency ping!!
Hey buddy, Boots and Saddles!!
This may be your last chance to dine on a truely rare delicacy.
Casey's June beetle. Only 600 acres left in its habitat and the Wal-Marts, strip malls and Home Depot/Best Buys are moving in quick.
Get 'em before they're gone for good.
I'm thinking white wine sauce, sage with just a hint of mint and a light veggie to add some "body" to the plate.
...or good old fashioned BBQ, you know, "Bug on a Bun".

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Oh for the love of mike.

Trap a few and stick them in a habitat if you are so worried about them. Shouldn't be that hard to do.

Some soil, some rocks, a few trees and presto!

[.cnI redruM]

That would be a perfect place to host the next annual FreeRepublic.com Spotted Owl Shoot.

[dufekin]

If someone does that, besides landing that person in jail (potential death-penalty offense) for life, the enviros would find a few surviving beetles in some previously unknown habitat and insist that they be restored to their previous habitat.

You can't win for losing, so don't even dare try.

Will the last person to leave California please turn out the lights--if they're still on!

[KriegerGeist]

I have to say that these enviros are an effective bunch.
Thanks to them we have no new refineries, no upgrading to coal-fired power plants, no new natural gas drilling in the U.S., all these 47 varieties of gasoline instead of just 2 (regular and premium), no oil or natural gas coming from ANWAR (a barren moonscape), no getting more oil out existing wells, just about killing every planned new power plant of any type (coal, gas, oil, nuke) and the list could go on and on....

[Seadog Bytes]

ping

[Seadog Bytes]

RE: "If it only lives on 600 acres, and we pave that 600 acres, then we don't need to have the beetle around anymore then, do we?"

Ummm...Can we start that paving about 200 miles East of Baghdad, and just work our way West?

See...This from the Religion of Peace?

Seadog Bytes